Paul Lawrie is excited to get back into the swing of top tier golf as he prepares to make his debut at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
The 50-year-old has not teed it up on the European or Staysure Tour since making the cut at the Portugal Masters but will be spending the next two weeks in the Indian Ocean paradise as he gets one season under way and brings down the curtain on the other.
Lawrie has kept himself sharp by playing with his son in Portugal and while he will be enjoying some down time in Mauritius, he will be all business when he tees off on Thursday morning at Heritage Golf Club.
"It's my first time in Mauritius - it's beautiful, absolutely lovely," he said. "We got in on Sunday afternoon and had a nice lazy day at the beach and hotel. So far it's brilliant.
"I was over playing on the Portugal Pro Tour for two weeks, otherwise I would have had five weeks off, five weeks at home in the cold. So my son Craig and I went to play in Portugal and now I feel ready to go.
Lovely game in a beautiful place with 3 nice guys @AfrAsiaMRUOpen #AfrAsiaBankMauritiusOpen @heritageresorts pic.twitter.com/caD9a9siam
— Paul Lawrie (@PaulLawriegolf) December 3, 2019
"Two or three weeks off is fine but as soon as you get more than five weeks off - especially at this time of year when it's cold back home - all you are doing is hitting balls on the range, you're not getting to play much golf.
"I looked at the schedule and saw that European Tour was here this week and the Staysure Tour up the coast next week. I thought - it's the perfect two weeks.
"We've got some friends coming to visit next week, my son is coming, my older son is on the bag, so we're going to have a nice holiday as well as playing golf.
"I looked at the schedule and thought two weeks in the same place would be nice without moving too far, it's about an hour up the coast next week, easier than flying in from somewhere else."
The standard on the Tour is getting better and better. That's only going to be a good thing for everyone
The fifth AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open is the second event on the 2020 Race to Dubai as a host of rookies from both the 2019 Challenge Tour and Qualifying School take their first steps on the European Tour.
Major Champion Lawrie has seen it all before with eight European Tour wins - including his 1999 Open victory - and two playing appearances in the Ryder Cup, and he is delighted to see the new generation emerge.
"For the players that are getting older and older like me, it's weird," he said. "You get on the range and you don't know half the Tour when you come to hit balls.
"That's a good thing, you need to get young talent in and keep the conveyor belt rolling, as it were. The scoring is just brilliant, the standard on the Tour is getting better and better. That's only going to be a good thing for everyone."
